FDES

UNSD developed and published in 1984 A Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES). The FDES sets out the scope of environment statistics by relating the components of the environment to information categories that are based on the recognition that environmental problems are the result of human activities and natural events reflecting a sequence of action, impact, and reaction. Relevant information, therefore, refers to social and economic activities and natural events, their effects on the environment, and the responses to these effects by the society. The contents of the FDES are "statistical topics"; they are those aspects of environmental concerns that can be subjected to statistical description and analysis.

The FDES is a loose and flexible framework that is still used by many national statistical offices for developing and organizing environmental and related socio-economic information.